PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST

imageAs McDonald's director of culinary innovation, Dan Coudreaut is responsible for developing menu items for the more than 13,700 restaurants that comprise the nation's largest burger chain. In that position, he has introduced a host of innovative new items to customers, including the popular line of Premium Chicken Sandwiches and creative salad variations such as the Asian Chicken Salad. Dan's accomplishments have been recognized through many honors and accolades throughout his career, including being listed among the NRN 50:R&D Culinarians by Nation's Restaurant News in 2003 and most, recently, receiving that magazine's 2006 Chef/Innovator MenuMasters Award.

—Dan Coudreaut '95
Director of Culinary Innovation
McDonald's Corporation
Oakbrook, IL

 

Do you enjoy experimenting with ingredients and coming up with new recipes? Are you more likely to set trends than follow them? Then a job in culinary research and development may be tailor made for you. Working for a food manufacturer, you'll develop new products and product lines, evaluate ingredients, and ensure current products meet company standards for flavor and quality. You can also develop and test recipes in the test kitchens of trade and consumer magazines. Along with creativity and inventiveness, you'll need a working knowledge of food chemistry and a pulse on what's hot in the consumer market.

 

A sample of CIA Alumni in this field:

  • Chris Loss '93, Ph.D.
    Food Scientist, Ventura Foods Center for Menu Research and Development
    St. Helena, CA

  • Steve Ream '89
    Corporate Executive Chef, Perdue Farms Innovation Center
    Salisbury, MD

  • Marcia Kiesel '81
    Test Kitchen Supervisor, Food & Wine magazine
    New York, NY
   
 
 
 
 
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